[tyndale-devel] Registration at STEP

[David Instone-Brewer]

Dear Chris
>    * free use online
>    * some functionality online requires registration (e.g. storage 
> of personal data, notes/bookmarks)
>    * free download
>    * installation process offers to create online account because 
> online version has more features
>    * registration for the account requires email address/password 
> and country/name, perhaps as optional (i don't mind either way)
>    * opt-out for email notifications
>    * Build in software and data update notification with a link to 
> a page that explains what is being updated (can be disabled in the 
> system settings but on by default, although need to think about 
> access to the internet in sensitive countries - i.e. don't want to 
> send people to prison because they didn't know their software was 
> accessing the internet)
All sounds good to me - couple of suggestions:
* the collection of email address with optional name+country could be 
at the initial download stage
  (eg "we will send a download link to you by email")
* the opt-out for emails is a blanket one - updates and all.
   This is because what my boss wants (I'm fairly sure) is a way to 
increase the number of people he can legitimately send newsletters to.
   I don't think this will be burdensome for anyone because, by law, 
each newsletter has an unsubscribe for the newsletters, so those who 
find they aren't interested will only have received one unwanted 
email. Thereafter they would only get the other emails.
* as you say, the country a person volunteers to tell us is more 
accurate than the IP number. But we could use the IP number as a 
backup. The small proportion which are masked don't matter.  * Mind 
you, it might matter if masking makes us assume they are in the USA 
and actually they are in a sensitive area and we send something to an 
email inappropriately., so:
   Perhaps we should include a tickable box for "I live in a 
sensitive situation so please do not send anything which is 
identifiably Christian to this email address."

Did I suggest anything shouldn't be free? I certainly didn't mean to.
Good point about being able to stop silent updates. Some people live 
in a dangerous world.

I've cc'd this to our STEP email box

David IB

At 18:21 08/03/2011, Chris Burrell wrote:
>Sure we can use the IP, although if NAT-ed then we only have the 
>router that's doing that NATting.
>
>I think if people register for a reason, then they might be more 
>inclined to give the country. The problem with recording the IP vs 
>the user's country is that people aren't aware of that necessarily. 
>I'd rather provide my country information myself rather than have my 
>IP logged and stored and used. I think it's probably a breach of the 
>DPA to store & use user data without notifying them.
>
>As long as people can use the online app for free without 
>registration. There can be a button to register. I don't mind 
>filling in email/country/password and even name. That in turn could 
>be useful information to trim down the number of displayed versions 
>based on the country they are in. I think we should provide the 
>standard checkbox to say they don't want information sent to them 
>(or 3 checkboxes - software updates, data updates, other news).
>
>As far as the download goes, I'd much prefer if we could download 
>for free (a lot of people won't even download it as it suddenly 
>doesn't appear to be free anymore). The installation process can 
>(like adobe realplayer for example) offer to sign up for updates, 
>etc. (that in turn creates the user's online account if need be 
>which is the incentive since more features would be available on the 
>online version.)
>
>
>I can see why we want email addresses. And I can see why we want 
>country information. And I agree there is wisdom. But first of all, 
>we need to remember that some people don't have email access from 
>home, others don't want emails from us. If we offer to upgrade their 
>version (or put some code in to check if an up-to-date version 
>exists), perhaps that page / "release notes" can help your manager 
>with his message.
>
>In summary, I'd like to aim for this:
>    * free use online
>    * some functionality online requires registration (e.g. storage 
> of personal data, notes/bookmarks)
>    * free download
>    * installation process offers to create online account because 
> online version has more features
>    * registration for the account requires email address/password 
> and country/name, perhaps as optional (i don't mind either way)
>    * opt-out for email notifications
>    * Build in software and data update notification with a link to 
> a page that explains what is being updated (can be disabled in the 
> system settings but on by default, although need to think about 
> access to the internet in sensitive countries - i.e. don't want to 
> send people to prison because they didn't know their software was 
> accessing the internet)
>Does that help?
>Chris
>
>
>On 8 March 2011 11:45, David Instone-Brewer 
><<mailto:Technical at tyndale.cam.ac.uk>Technical at tyndale.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>Dear Chris
>
>I suggested to my boss that we could get email addresses when people 
>download stuff or create a login for notes etc.
>I pointed out that people may be wary of giving information like 
>country and name, but he is keen to get this so that he can send 
>emails specific for different areas.
>I can see the wisdom in this, but I'm unsure about asking for a 
>country and name for people in sensitive parts of the world.
>
>Do you think it would be practical to make "name" and "country" 
>optional, but record the IP number along with an email address, so 
>the country can be filled in from that?
>I realise this won't always be accurate, but it will be so in the 
>great majority of cases.
>
>David IB
>
>
>
>At 10:17 08/03/2011, Peter J Williams wrote:
>Dear David,
>That's not the information I want. I want to be able to send an 
>e-mail blast to particular parts of the world. That's why I need a 
>location (even if general) for every e-mail. The more specific the 
>information the better. So if we can ask for address, town and 
>country, but only make continent required then it should work.
>Best wishes,
>Pete
>
>At 09:14 08/03/2011, David Instone-Brewer wrote:
>It is more accurate to get a picture of which countries are using 
>the resources from web stats.
>
>David IB
>
>At 15:38 07/03/2011, Peter J Williams wrote:
>Dear David,
>Thanks for this. What if we just asked for name, e-mail and 
>continent (or country, but give them the option of only providing 
>continent)? It would be useful to be able to do special news blasts 
>to people in the UK or in the US and so I think we need to get some 
>basic information as to whereabouts.
>Pete
>
>At 10:16 07/03/2011, David Instone-Brewer wrote:
>Dear Peter
>
>I like your idea of getting contact information from STEP users, but 
>we have to be a bit careful.
>Many of them will be working in sensitive countries, and will have 
>an instinctive resistance to this.
>I find the same thing in myself, when I visit Bible software sites 
>which require registration.
>Generally I pass by on the other side.
>
>I've chatted with Chris, who is doing most of the programming, and 
>he says that we can do it
>when we have things to download, and when we set up the "Notes" 
>function (where people can
>store their own notes and share them with a group or with the world 
>if they wish).
>
>Virtually everyone will want to download modules, and people are 
>used to getting a confirmation
>email with a download code, so demanding an email won't feel so intrusive.
>However, I still think we should be wary of asking for a compulsory 
>name & country
>especially for something specifically designed to help people in 
>missionary situations.
>We can still ask for this as voluntary information.
>
>David IB
>
>
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